The Toronto Raptors are set to host the Miami Heat at 7 on Sportsnet One. If you’re looking for something to do until then, Jamal Murray is currently setting the world aflame from long-range. Want him with the Knicks/Nuggets pick? Good luck, people. He ain’t going outside the top five.
Anyway, the Heat are in town as the Raptors play game six of a seven-game home-stand. Miami comes in hot despite the absence of Chris Bosh, who is hoping to return eventually, making Miami a potentially terrifying playoff opponent. Dwyane Wade will also sit due to a sore thigh, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet. He was doubtful the last time Miami visited but wound up playing, and this time is somewhat of a surprising scratch. Life’s about balance, I’m told.
Without Bosh and Wade, they still boast an attacking guard in Goran Dragic, a rim protector and rebounding machine in Hassan Whiteside, and quality wing defenders in Luol Deng and Justise Winslow. Somehow, they’ve stayed dangerous despite Bosh’s injury and despite making several moves throughout the season aimed at getting under the luxury tax instead of actually improving. Credit Pat Riley for being able to do so and their scouting and development staff for making players out of Josh Richardson and the injured Tyler Johnson, who have turned out to essentially be free rotation players.
Even still, the Raptors are 2-1 against Miami this year, and while they’re a tough matchup, the absence of Bosh at least makes things a little easier, at least once head coach Dwane Casey goes to the bench in the frontcourt. The Raptors will need Jonas Valanciunas to play well to help test Whiteside and even pull him away from the rim some, which is an area Valanciunas’ has been improving in. Failing that – entirely possible since Valanciunas hasn’t been playing particularly well of late – maybe Lucas Nogueira factors in, since he can punish the Heat a little more for ignoring the big in a pick-and-roll. It’s also possible the Raptors lean on Luis Scola or Jason Thompson at center to likewise try to change Whiteside’s gameplan.
The biggest question tonight, though, is what they got to eat in this place? I’m dog-sitting for friends who are actually at the game, and I’m going to be all up in their cupboards, assuming I don’t hit a wall and pass out (I did 17km on five hours of sleep this morning, because I’m very, very stupid). If I haven’t tweeted five minutes into any quarter, please send help and food.
Raptors updates
DeMarre Carroll is sidelined and Bruno Caboclo is in Mississauga with Raptors 905, but Nogueira and Delon Wright have been recalled, so the Raptors run 13 deep:
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, Wright
SG: DeMar DeRozan, T.J. Ross, Norman Powell,
SF: James Johnson
PF: Scola, Patrick Patterson, Thompson
C: Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo, Nogueira
Just a shot in the dark here, but the Raptors will probably have Scola guard Joe Johnson to start, and if Johnson heats up, possibly hide Scola on the rookie Justise Winslow, who has been getting the Tony Allen from some teams as he finds his offensive footing in the league. That’s not to say Winslow isn’t good – he’s played unbelievably well on defense and is a really smart cutter – he’s just not a major threat to exploit a slower defender quite yet. Scola may also see a light night given how often the Heat will be playing small.
I’m also guessing Powell stays in the starting lineup, which may not have been the case if Wade played. Casey may still opt for Johnson to help with the larger Johnson/Deng tasks, but I wonder if Casey doesn’t also want a bit of a look at how Powell holds up against larger wings down the stretch, just in case he proves effective. There’s little cost to trying it out.
UPDATE: Nope, Johnson starts.
Heat updates
As notes, Bosh, Wade, and Johnson are all out, so the Heat look something like this:
PG: Dragic
SG: Winslow, Josh Richardson, Gerald Green
SF: Johnson
PF: Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts, Udonis Haslem
C: Amar’e Stoudemire, Whiteside
The guess here is that the rookie Winslow draws the start, giving the Heat an additional smothering option on DeRozan and freeing Johnson and Deng to attack on the offensive end with fresh legs. The Heat have a few options here, though, so check back closer to tip-off for confirmation.
The line
The Raptors are 5.5-point favorites, which is at the same time a nice show of respect with how well the Heat have been playing but also an expectant nod to a Raptors team that looked reinvigorated on Thursday and should be able to take advantage of a star-less Heat squad. The over-under has bounced around between 199 and 202 and currently sits on the latter mark, which I reckon is a shade high.
Raptors 100, Heat 93
